Scarred More Than Seen
by WasherAnne
Summary: In some other universe not all too different, Todoroki Shouto got away with just a scar on his face and some emotional scars that extended past the superficial blemish. This is not that universe. Todoroki Shouto is left half-blind, and Todoroki Enji is left unhappy. In typical Enji fashion, he tries again, and Shouto gets a little sister as a result.
1. Prologue

Full Summary: In some other universe not all too different, Todoroki Shouto got away with just a scar on his face and some emotional scars that extended past the superficial blemish. This particular Shouto was not quite so lucky in that regard and the burns of his mother and father combine leaving him half blind. In typical Todoroki Enji fashion, the man denounces Shouto as another failed attempt in achieving the perfect hero. But with a younger sister he must now care for, Shouto soon finds himself overwhelmed. Leaving his father behind might prove to be not only the most beneficial to his sister's and his own safety but for their emotional wellbeing as well.

Midoriya Izuku enjoys meeting a friend that accepts his Quirkless state despite having the coolest powers he'd ever seen. Even if he seems a little strange and quiet at times. His mom always told him to accept people however they were and try to be there for them in whatever ways they needed. If Shouto couldn't raise his own voice than Izuku would try his hardest to do it for him. Along the way he may even try raising his voice for his own self too.

In other news, Yagi Toshinori really shouldn't be trusted with any more children…

* * *

Hello!

This is my first fanfic for BNHA. This is mostly the result of me just being obsessed with TodoDeku as well as Dad Might. I needed more of a preface for the story than that though, so I thought well what if Shouto was more than just scarred by a pot of boiling water straight to the eye... Then I thought, well knowing Todoroki Enji, he'd probably just try for another kid so...

This is the result.

I love long fanfics, but we'll see how far I actually manage to keep this one going...

Keep in mind that especially this chapter deals with Shouto and his relationship with his father. Endeavor ain't a nice dude, so slight warnings for abuse including a very brief, not even kind of detailed instance of marital rape. There is no direct comment on it, but it's heavily implied.

I hope you read and enjoy!

* * *

The first time Shouto thought his father was going to give him a burn on his face to match the other side was two weeks after his mother left.

It was during training. Or whatever torture amounted to training in the Todoroki household.

He had been a little too slow, a bit too clumsy. His eye had burned beneath the bandages, and he still wasn't used to the lopsided vision. But to Endeavor, those were all signs and symptoms of weakness. The slowness- an indication that Shouto had been slacking in practice, the clumsiness- a sign of his inability to work harder, the eye- a symbol of his own incompetence, ignorance, and stupidity.

Shouto should have been fast enough to avoid it or powerful enough to have burned the water to steam or even just strong enough to lash out at his attacker.

But truly any weakness now in Shouto's body had to have stemmed from the mother. She had been weak, emotional, unstable, and so obviously that had transferred over into her son. He was as much of his mother as his father, and that fact at once made him the greatest success and the paramount of failures waiting to collapse.

And so that first day, like so many after it, Endeavor stood over his youngest son, hand clenching flames within his palm, fire dancing over his face, alighting the fury in his eyes. He said nothing, but Shouto heard and understood it all.

 _Disgrace. Unworthy. Weak. Failure._

Shouto waited on the ground until the man left the room before he collapsed inwards, curled into a ball, and sobbed quietly. The tears burned; the sobs ached, but it was so much better to be alone and in pain than to be with the man he called Father.

* * *

The first day Shouto woke up without feeling in his eye was three weeks after his mother left.

He hadn't had a day off in training over the past week, and his father, if anything, had been even more harsh than usual, wielding his flames with a cruelty not previously experienced by Shouto. He seemed to gain some sort of sick pleasure in watching his son flinch every time the heat neared the sensitive flesh of his face. It was almost like a game to him, and now it seemed that the flames had licked his healing wounds one too many times, the scar tissue warping and bending and spreading to accommodate it, searing over the eye.

When he woke up that day, he knew something was wrong as every day previous since the incident, he had awoken to the dull, pulsing throb of the wound surrounding his eye.

He brought a finger up to poke at the delicate flesh. He brushed it gently at first then poked it harder then once more then again just to be certain. He pinched the flesh, prodded sharply at it with his nail, scratched and clawed and gouged at it.

There was blood on his fingers and scar flesh beneath his nails, and his face was still so numb.

He ripped the bandages off his face, tried to open the eye with no response from the muscles. He ran to the mirror in the bathroom connected to his bedroom and stared at the scarred flesh that forcibly kept his eye closed, blood dripping down his cheek on one side, tears flowing silently down the other.

He forcefully pried the eyelids apart with his fingers. The eye was blotchy and scarred, and it saw _nothing_.

The tears poured down in earnest, a sob wrenching at his throat, choking the air from his lungs. He didn't know what encounter with which burn had caused the eye to lose all vision, but in all cases, his father was the one to blame.

Half of his face pure and white and clear, half of his face awash with the red of flames and burns and blood. Half of him was so in pain and the other was completely blind to it and numb against all the tears of the purer half. The image was all too ironic and infinitely more cruel. He was the physical embodiment of the war between his parents.

Like some grotesque chimera, he was a heap of mismatched parts haphazardly smashed together without a care as to what unlucky soul was created as a result. He was an unholy abomination that shouldn't even exist.

 _Disgusting. Foolish. Weak. Failure._

He didn't have training that day.

* * *

The first time Shouto saw his mother again was a month after she left.

His father by this time had accepted that his son was forever scarred. His greatest success, the only one of his children that had not been a failure, was marred at the hands of the foolish, idiotic mother. He never stopped to consider that it could have been himself that was to blame in all of this.

So as he had every time previous, when Todoroki Enji realized the failure of this child, he ignored that scion and went back to the mother once more to hopefully create a better one.

They were willing to release anyone from the mental hospital if you had an important enough name and threw enough money at the problem. And so it was that one month after she scarred her youngest son out of sheer panic that Todoroki Yuki was released from the mental hospital with a clear bill of health.

She returned to the house that night but spoke not a word, a hollow, vaguely accepting grimace on her face as her husband steered her to their bedroom.

Shouto covered his head with a pillow that night in order to block out his mother's screams.

He didn't see her after that ever again. One day nearly a year later, his little sister was brought to the house, but there were no other reassurance that his mother was even alive up until that point.

His mother died in childbirth.

Shouto never even got to tell her that he forgave her for everything. He knew she was just as much a victim of Father as Shouto himself was; only she had been a victim for far, far longer.

Shouto found that being scarred was infinitely more enjoyable than the consternation of remaining under his father's "tutelage." Neglect was better than the outright abuse; at least he never had physical wounds to deal with any more.

The verbal abuse wasn't much different from before. The focus had changed to ridiculing his disability as the sign of incompetence and failure rather than his own slowly strengthening skills with his Quirk, so at least it was no longer something he could blame himself for.

 _Grotesque. Useless. Weak. Failure._

If Todoroki Enji wanted to mock him for something he caused then fine. At least he wasn't throwing up on a near daily basis anymore…

* * *

After a while Shouto stopped comparing everything from before his mother left to after she was gone. Some things were worse. Truly his mother had been one of the few things that had kept him sane during those years of constant torment from his father. Some things were better. He enjoyed getting to be around his siblings once again, and he liked it even more when he eventually got to act in the role of big brother once Yukiko came home. Some things were the same. His father, not any less of an asshole, was just around Shouto a bit less.

When he had the time to think about it later on, Shouto figured this must have been the cycle before he was born as well. The child is born; Enji doesn't stick around much for the first few years until the Quirk develops, and once it does, he ensures that they're a failure before ignoring them again.

Only this time Shouto got to see it from a different perspective. He finally actually got to talk to and bond with his siblings again.

Fuyumi was the best. She was the oldest of them, almost ten years older than Shouto, and she had just graduated from high school and was studying how to be a teacher. Shouto thought she would be the best teacher ever; he almost wished he could just keep her for himself instead. She was like Mom, warm and sweet and beautiful. She was the one who would help Shouto take care of Yukiko the most (though if he was honest with himself, it was probably the other way around). Shouto like holding Fuyumi's hand almost as much as he like getting to carry Yukiko. He loved his sisters.

Junichi was the next oldest making him the oldest boy. He was eight years older than Shouto and was just going in to his last year of high school. He didn't spend a lot of time around the house, but Shouto couldn't really fault him for that. No one would willingly stay at the Todoroki house when they had no clue as to when Enji would be home nor what mood he would be in when he arrived.

But Junichi knew a lot of fun card games that he learned from his friends. Shouto liked those games a lot. Plus, Junichi would always go out of his way to bring back cool books for his littlest brother from the library.

Haruki was the closest to Shouto in age, just 4 years older than him, and he was still in Junior High. Haruki didn't like Shouto all that much, and Shouto couldn't say he was all that fond of the red-haired boy either. He was the only one of the siblings to have gained the fire Quirk from their father, and he had a temper to match it. Unlike Enji however, he would never use his powers against his family.

Haruki did know lots of cool swear words though. Sometimes the two would see who could come up with the worst name for their father; Haruki could be nice if he tried.

But more than anything or anyone else, Shouto loved his little sister Yukiko. The first thing Shouto noticed about her when he met the baby was that she was _loud._ The only loud Shouto was used to hearing was his father's anger. Enji was always angrier if anyone happened to disturb the "peace" while he was home, so Shouto had grown accustomed to the hesitant hush that always lay uncomfortably over their house.

Loud was not something Shouto was comfortable around, but the little baby that sat in front of him wasn't nearly big or muscular or downright frightening enough to be anything like their father. _Their_ father…

Their father- who hadn't even been home since he dropped the baby girl off, whose only words to his children were of the harsh reality of their mother dying in childbirth- that man had to be kept as far away from this happy boisterous little girl as possible. Judging by her hair there was a chance that she could end up with a combination of both their parents' Quirks just like him. She had more white hair than red, but it was still hard to tell with the fine baby fuzz that she had.

She hadn't even been home for a week, and Shouto was already worrying over what Quirk she would develop as he sat on the couch, watching her sleep contently.

"You could hold her."

Shouto started and looked up at Fuyumi, countless questions lingering in his single, uncovered eye. He thought about the idea, a small frown tugging at his cheeks as he glared down at his hands. He didn't trust his left side, not with something this precious.

"She should get to know her big brother. I'll be here the entire time. She'll just sit in your lap for a bit; she probably won't even wake up," Fuyumi was going to be a great teacher. Shouto had visibly perked up at her reassurances.

"Just sit there on the couch," she instructed him calmly, tenderly like he was some small animal that could bolt at any sudden movement. She wasn't all too far off for thinking that.

Fuyumi picked up her sleeping sister from the baby carrier she had been left in. The other brothers finally had freetime this weekend, so they were finishing the setup of the nursery. Shouto apparently just got in the way. At least, that's what Haruki had said when he tried to help.

"Now make sure you support her head while you hold her," Fuyumi positioned his arms as she settled the little girl in Shouto's lap. "Let most of her weight rest in your lap, or she'll get too heavy, too quickly. There you go! Look at you, already a pro at this! You'll be the best big brother, won't you Shouto?"

"Mm," Shouto nodded once emphatically, careful not to jostle Yukiko.

She was so tiny and fragile and _innocent._ Shouto couldn't imagine anyone or anything in the world that was better or cuter than his little sister. He made a solemn vow then and there (all promises are infinitely more serious as a child too) that he would never allow their father to lay a single hand on his little sister regardless of what Quirk she formed, regardless of how she behaved, regardless of how angry and volatile their father got. Shouto would protect his sister with everything he had and more.

Perhaps it was some distant noise in a dream or in reality or maybe just the machinations of the universe, but at that moment as Shouto finished his promise, Yukiko opened her crystal blue eyes for the first time that the boy had seen. She yawned and glanced up at him. Mouth opening again, this time to form the closest thing a baby can to smile, the red flush of her cheeks alighting like her eyes in happiness.

In that moment, everything his father had ever called him didn't matter. His lopsided vision didn't matter. His mother's torment and suffering, his father's scorn and dismissal, his siblings' distance and tension- none of that mattered.

Shouto couldn't stop the small smile that spread across his own face as he gazed in awe down at the beautiful little baby that had drifted back to sleep on his lap once more.

 _Idiotic. Broken. Weak. Failure._

He would be smart enough and whole enough for her. He'd show Yukiko his strength when she couldn't find her own. He'd teach her victory when their father spat them out as disgraces. He would do anything for her, so long as it meant she could stay pure and happy and hopeful forever.

If she never had to hear those mocking words of her father, never had to feel the heat of his flames or the weight of his fists, that would be enough for Shouto.

* * *

A note on the names and ages of the Todoroki family:

I gave Mama Todoroki the name Yuki meaning snow. Basic but hey I killed her off anyway so nbd

Fuyumi keeps her name and I made her almost 10 years older than Shouto making her 17 at the time he was burned and 18 at the time Yukiko was born according to my timeline. She has ice.

Junichi, the oldest brother, is a little bit more than 8 years older than Shouto (16 at burn and birth of Yukiko), and his name can mean either "submit/obey" "one" or "pure" "one". I'd like to think that Enji likes the first version better, but Yuki gave him the second meaning instead. He has ice.

Haruki is 4 years older than Shouto (11 at burn and 12 at Yukiko's birth), and his name means "light, sun, male" "brightness". He has fire hence the focus on burning.

Yukiko can mean "snow" "child" or in this case the literal meaning of Yuki's "child". I see this as Yuki's final "up yours" at Enji before she dies. Even if Yuki is dead, her will lives on in her children and now Enji has to be constantly reminded of that especially if Yukiko ends up with a quirk that combines their powers.

This was a far longer not than I anticipated, but I hope you enjoyed the Prologue. Let me know what you thought if you wanna do that. Otherwise, maybe I'll see you next time if you're still interested...


	2. Chapter 1: The Todoroki Family

Thanks everyone who has supported this story thus far! I really appreciate it; it makes me happy when someone else can enjoy reading my stuff as much as I enjoy writing it! :)

There's some child abuse by Endeavor and subsequent emotional trauma of said children.

So this chapter is mostly just some character and universe development, and more importantly it transitions us from Shouto's injury and his sister's birth to a few years later when he can meet Izuku for the first time. That means we get some smol Izuku next time! Yeah!

Let me know if you find any glaring mistakes, or if you have any ideas.

Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy!

* * *

For a while Shouto really didn't know what to do with all the free time he suddenly found he had. The past year had been spent in equal amounts panicking over the disappearance of his mother and trying to learn and grasp as many new educational concepts as Fuyumi could shove into his brain.

Father had of course had him privately tutored before, his greatest creation couldn't be a mere simpleton after all; however, with Shouto relegated as another failed experiment just like his siblings, Enji left him without another thought. Shouto was even worse than those other disappointments as the man had wasted over two years on training that all went to waste.

So this past year Fuyumi had taken Shouto's education into her own hands with the expectation that the boy would be able to start at the local elementary school the following year. (Fuyumi was probably a better teacher than all those others though, so Shouto didn't mind at all.)

During the day when Fuyumi had class though Shouto would lay in Yukiko's room with the blinds open to let in as much sunlight as he could. He would plop himself down onto the wooden floorboards and just lay there often drawing and coloring for hours.

Fuyumi bought him markers and paper and sometimes even some watercolor paint if he had been really good and helpful. Junichi even brought him drawing books sometimes too! Haruki just taught him how to make paper airplanes. He did it even when it was a picture that Shouto had spent hours working on. Shouto would just sigh in exasperation and reluctant acceptance over this fact. It always devolved into a paper-ball fight. Shouto always made sure never to show Haruki his favorite pictures after the first time that happened.

It was on a Thursday a few months after Yukiko had been brought to the house that Shouto learned from firsthand experience how to- and how _not_ to- change a diaper. He knew it was a Thursday because Fuyumi's classes went later that day meaning that the nanny had left before his older sister came home. As a result the only three people in the house at that time had been Yukiko, Haruki, and Shouto himself.

Haruki and Shouto made a very solemn vow to never mention the events of that day even up until their dying breath. Shouto was fairly sure this vow was the only promise Haruki ever made with him that was completely sincere. He loved Haruki, yes, but he didn't really trust him. It's hard to trust a boy who would pants him if it meant getting a laugh from his friends… On another note, Shouto also wore a belt most days now.

Shouto was coloring a picture of All Might (always a daring exercise when Endeavor could always find it and subsequently explode, quite literally) when Haruki walked into the nursery.

"What're you drawing this time Shou-tan? Another muscular Pikachu?" Haruki grabbed the yellow marker from his little brother's grasp causing Shouto to look up with the half-angry pout and glare he reserved specifically for his older brother.

"It's All Might," Shouto corrected very matter-of-factly, grabbing a different yellow marker from his pencil case. The yellow, orange, and brown markers from the packs were always left long after the others had dried up, so they were far more plentiful.

"Ah, yes, of course. How could I be so silly? I can sooo see it now," the older boy quipped sarcastically. "I had to just tilt my head a little, squint my eyes shut, and imagine something completely different from what's on th-"

"I'm not afraid to draw on you, Haruki," Shouto gestured with his freshly uncapped blue marker like it was some great samurai blade of old.

"Well if what you draw on me is anything like this artwork then I would be embarrassed just to be seen by Junichi let alone people outside the house."

Shouto rolled his eye.

"Well, I'm going to go start my homework, so you have fun," he flung the capped marker at his little brother's head. Shouto caught it. "Finishing your pretty artwork here. Don't bother me unless-"

At first Shouto thought it was just because Haruki was loud and obnoxious because at that moment Yukiko awoke with a loud cry already on her lips. Oh how he would soon wish that it was just Haruki being himself that caused the cries this time.

Haruki got to the side of the crib first since he had already been standing, and so he plucked the girl from the spot where she lay, still wailing.

"Shh, shh. It's okay Yuki-chan; Haruki-nii is here," If his voice was a little panicked, Shouto didn't comment on it. Frankly, he was a little flustered as well. "Go, grab a bottle Shouto. She might be hungry."

Shouto turned to run to the kitchen to do as he was told. Making and warming up bottles was one of the tasks that Fuyumi actually let him do all by himself.

When he came back successfully, it was to the tender scene of Yukiko laying in Haruki's lap as he sat in the rocking chair, trying to comfort the still crying child. He went to give his brother the bottle, but Haruki just groaned in a strange mixture of realization and discontent.

"Well, judging by the squishiness of her diaper and the overpowering smell, I don't think the problem is her being hungry," Haruki heaved himself out of the chair, bringing the little girl over to the changing table. He got out a new diaper, a container of baby wipes, and a bottle of diaper rash cream.

"Do you even know how to change a diaper?" Shoto questioned, moving over to peer onto the counter. He was chin level with the table; he hated being short…

"Of course I do!" Haruki scoffed.

"Uh-huh," Shouto agreed sarcastically.

Haruki's face reddened in embarrassment and annoyance. "W-well, I mean, I've never _done it,_ but like, how hard could it be?"

Shouto was only a little bit scared for his and Yukiko's lives at that point.

Haruki managed to get Yukiko's clothes off; he removed them completely, just in case. He wasn't taking any chances. He may have never been the one to change the baby, but he had seen a few of her dirty diapers. Baby crap got everywhere.

He stood for a moment looking over Yukiko who was thankfully had begun quieting her cries as soon as she realized her brother was going to fix her unfortunate situation. He took a deep breath, calming himself and mentally preparing for what he would have to-

"Are you waiting for her to poop again or something?" Shouto could be as much of a little shit as his brother at times.

Haruki took that moment to roll his eyes and glare at the smaller boy before turning back to the task at hand. He slowly, hesitantly pried the sides of the diaper apart. A waft of putrid baby odor hit his nose, but it was even worse for young Shouto whose nose was just about even with baby bottom.

"That's disgusting!" Shouto exclaimed, bringing his sleeve up to futilely shield his nose from the smell. "How can someone so tiny and so cute make so much stink?"

"I mean you're pretty bad, but _I_ don't blame your lack of height for that," Haruki would always find a way to turn the situation back on Shouto.

"You think I'm cute Haru-nii?" Shouto made the biggest puppy eye he could (he didn't know if the eyepatch helped or hurt his chances).

"Not even kind of, you brat. This crap's cuter than you. Smells better too. Now shut up; I'm focusing."

Shouto stuck his tongue out behind Haruki's back before he too focused more intently on the task at hand.

Haruki managed to get the diaper off when he realized his problem. He had absolutely no clue what he was supposed to do with it now. Did he just throw it in the trash can? But there was so much crap on it… Maybe the toilet? Did he just like stick in the toilet or was he supposed to scrape the shit off? Whatever! He'd just leave it on the table for now…

He went to grab one of the wipes and then proceeded to freak out because he had no clue how to wipe a baby butt without hurting the baby. Did he just flip her over? Or like bend her in half? Or should he have Shouto hold her while he wiped?

Well since there were two of them that last one sounded like the best idea.

Shouto was not enjoying this idea. He had armfuls of squirming naked baby while his older brother was trying to wipe the remnants of nature's call from said baby's bottom.

When Yukiko squealed more, Shouto let out a shout. "Stop! Haruki, stop! I think you're hurting her!"

"I am not hurting her!" The middle schooler argued. "This is the exact same thing that Fuyumi does all the time; you're just not holding her right! It's your fault Shouto; I knew I shouldn't have trusted you to be able to help with something like this!"

"Well if you think you can do it without me then fine," Shouto plopped Yukiko unceremoniously into Haruki's arms. "I'm leaving."

"Hey! W-wait Shouto!" With one arm full of naked still sullied baby and one hand grasping used baby wipes, Haruki called out for his younger brother. "C'mon! You can't just leave me here! At least like put her on the table or something! Please…?"

Shouto turned back around and rolled his eye, hints of a smirk playing at his lips. He took Yukiko back from his brother and went to place her on the changing table.

"You little shit! You were playing me! You make me so proud, learning how to lead a person on just like your big brother," Haruki slung his arm around his little brother's shoulders, dirty wipes dangerously close to Shouto's face.

"Ugh! Haruki, that's disgusting!" Shouto tried to shrug off the arm all while still holding Yukiko in his arms. "Ge' off!"

"What?" he snuggled the younger boy all the tighter. "I'm just trying to be nice to my lovely, favoritest little brother in the whole wide worl-"

"What in the _world_ are you two doing?" Haruki and Shouto both jumped a little at Junichi's voice suddenly coming from the doorway.

"Junichi," Shouto whined, extracting himself from his brother's loosened grip and running up to his eldest brother instead. "Haruki's being mean and pretending he doesn't need my help even though he clearly doesn't know how to change a diaper!"

"Hey! That's not true!" Haruki ran up to yell at Shouto again. "I _do so_ know how to change a diaper! It's just 'cause you get in my way that I'm not done yet!"

Junichi just sighed with the most world weary expression on his face, entire frame slumping in resignation. He grabbed the wipes from Haruki's hand and the baby from Shouto before shuffling over to the changing table.

He grabbed a pair of plastic gloves, slipping them easily onto his hands before picking up the soiled diaper and dropping it into the garbage can in the compartment of the changing table. In a matter of minutes Yukiko is cleaned, diapered, dressed, and dozing on Junichi's chest as he relaxes in the rocking chair.

"How did you do that so fast Junichi?" Shouto was in awe. Junichi was just so cool!

"Who do you think helped Fuyumi change your diapers Shouto?" Shouto blushed at that while Haruki let out a guffaw. "I've had plenty of practice."

When Fuyumi came home a couple hours later and asked about their day, Shouto and Haruki made no mention of diapers or babies. When Junichi would tell her about it anyway after the younger ones had already gone to bed for the night, Fuyumi would just smile at him knowingly, thinking of their first time changing Shouto's diaper together.

* * *

After a few months of doing the same thing almost every day, just drawing in Yukiko's room could grow boring, so on occasion he would just lay on the beanbag he had moved in front of the window under the sunshine with her sitting contently on his lap. Shouto was so used to his routine that it didn't matter what day of the week it was, he'd stay in Yukiko's room for hours even if the rest of his siblings were all home too.

Today Fuyumi was sitting in the rocking chair reading some sort of book that was required for one of her courses while Shouto sat telling Yukiko about his favorite super heroes.

"-and everyone loves him not just 'cause he's the best, but because he'll protect everyone no matter what. I'm gonna be a hero like that someday too. I'm gonna show them that I can protect them, so no one will ever have to worry about bullies again. I'm gonna show Father that I'm not any kind of failure. I'm gonna be a hero for you too Yukiko," Shouto promised with all his heart. "Shouto-nii will protect you no matter."

"Yeh, yeh," Yukiko burbled, happily agreeing. She had been speaking little words like yes, no, and stop recently. "Yeh 'Outo!"

Shouto blinked, eye going wide in surprise. He looked up at Fuyumi, an ecstatic smile spreading over his cheeks. "Fuyumi! She said my name! Yukiko said my name!"

He turned back to the baby, "Say it again Yukiko! Say 'Shouto-nii.'"

"Nuh," Yukiko disagreed.

"C'mon, Yukiko," Shouto encouraged; he pointed at himself. "Who am I?"

"'Outo!" Yukiko cried happily. And if it made Shouto a little bit more happy that she was essentially referring to him as "Dad" then that was alright too.

"Yes! Great job Yukiko!" He gestured to Fuyumi. "Can you say 'Fuyumi?' Do you know your big sister?"

"F'umi!" the baby cried happily in her broken speech.

Fuyumi smiled back at the little girl. "Great job Yukiko! You're getting so big if you can say _both_ our names! You're gonna be a big girl soon aren't you?"

"Yeh, yeh," Yukiko agreed.

Shouto would happily accept being a hero for no except this little girl if only it meant nothing bad would ever happen to her. He didn't need to protect everyone so long as Yukiko was safe.

* * *

Yukiko was nearly a year old and the school year was just about coming to a close when Shouto found out.

It was late at night and he had awoken to another nightmare. He never really remembered them after they had past besides lots of fire and burning and darkness. He got out of bed with the intention to go to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. Water always helped; it assured him that nothing was burning now.

He heard voices coming from the living room, so he walked to one of the doorways and secretly peered inside.

"-are you going to tell them Junichi?" Fuyumi was asking sounding exasperated with their brother. "They deserve something better than to just wake up to you being gone one day. Or do you just not care anymore?"

"That's not fair!" Junichi argued; he looked upset, a mix of frustrated anger and weary sadness. "You know damn well that's not true. I jus- I just… It's hard."

Fuyumi's voice went quieter; her brown unwrinkled itself. "I know; I know. I'm sorry. That wasn't fair to you. But you have to tell them something or they'll think you just abandoned them for no reason."

"I _know_ that, but there's just so many other things I have to worry about without thinking about how my little brothers will respond! Shouto will probably cry, and who knows with Haruki. He'll either find a way to blame himself or just yell at me for a while. I'll probably deserve it, but I just can't do it anymore!"

"But they're your brothers. They'll accept you; they'll understand," Fuyumi was good at reassuring her younger siblings. "Even if it takes some time. The sooner you tell them, the more time there'll be. And who knows, they might even-"

"Why are two being so loud?" Haruki walked into the living room from the other door, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "It's like midnight, and I'm trying to sleep. Can't you save this until the morning, or at least quiet it dow-"

He then noticed the tears shining in his brother's eyes and the melancholic look in Fuyumi's face. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Yes, it's fine. Junichi and I were just talking about something priv-"

"Fuyumi, stop," Junichi interrupted. "We'll tell him now, and then Shouto in the morning."

"Tell us what?" Shouto walked up to his older siblings from his spot in the darkness of the doorway.

Junichi made a strangled, gasping sound, startled by the younger boy's sudden appearance.

"Tell us what, Junichi?" Shouto asked again.

"Why don't you three all sit down, and I'll go make us some tea," Fuyumi sent a significant glance at Junichi before she left to go to the kitchen across the hall.

When they were all settled- Haruki and Shouto on the couch, Junichi looking at them from the armchair angled towards- the older boy sighed once more, uncomfortably twisting his hands together, eyes purposefully gazing away from his brothers.

"Alright," Junichi finally began, looking at his brothers' in their eyes very seriously. "So before I tell you this, you have to understand that it's not because of anything you two have done. It's not about Fuyumi or Yukiko either. Hell, it's not even really about our fucking father."

Junichi didn't swear all that often, not around Shouto at least, which was definitive proof that he was very emotional about whatever the subject matter was (as if all his previous behavior that night hadn't been). He was quiet for a while again, mustering up more courage.

"You gotta just come out and say it, man. The suspense is killing me," Haruki said, tearing the serious mood to shreds.

"I just want to make sure you understand where I'm coming from before I say-" Junich tried to argue.

"Bullshit. You're just scared about how we'll react."

"Hey, I'm trying to tell you something serious about myself and what I plan to do with my life, so maybe you could be a supportive brother for once, and-"

"Oh, save it! I can already see where this is going! So why don't you just go back your bags and go already?" Haruki was getting very worked up.

"Because I care about you, and I want you to know the reasoning behind why I'm doing this before…"

"You still can't even say it can you?" Haruki scoffed. "You're pathetic."

"Haruki!" Shout scolded. "You can't just say that to Junichi! He's telling us something important, and I want to hear it from him!"

"You still don't get it, Shouto?" He was now annoyed with both his pathetic older brother _and_ his stupid little brother. "He's leaving us! Junichi's fucking just gonna run off, and we'll probably never see him again!"

Shouto looked from Haruki to Junich, tears welling in his eye, hurt falling over his face. "Is that true Junichi? Are you really leaving?"

Junichi sighed again. "Yeah," he agreed quietly.

Haruki scoffed again, "Finally says it, and he still doesn't explain anything…"

Shouto ignored him, "But why Junichi? Do you not like us anymore? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, Shouto, no," Junichi insisted. "It's nothing you guys did. I was trying to tell you that before. It's just something personal that I need to do to keep myself safe and help make myself happy."

"Are you not happy here?" Shouto crawled into his oldest brother's lap.

"I don't blame him," Haruki mumbled.

"I love you, all of you," Junichi reassured. "But there are other people who need me too."

"This is just an excuse to get away from Father. I bet there's really nothing going on, and you just don't want to own up to it, so you'll use those friends of your as an excuse to-"

"I'm gay!" Junichi burst out.

Neither Haruki nor Shouto knew what to say to that. Haruki was taken aback, and Shouto just didn't really know what his brother even meant.

"I have a boyfriend, and he makes me really happy," Junichi explained slowly. "We already submitted the paperwork to rent an apartment just a couple towns over. It's not as big or fancy, but it'll be ours. You can all come visit of course, but there's no way Father will let me leave if I tell him that it's to be with a guy."

"Does that mean you're gonna marry him Junichi-nii?" Shouto wondered, his single brown eye, wide and bright with excitement. "Am I gonna have another big brother then?"

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves there Shouto. Maybe someday though…" Junichi lost himself in his own daydreams for a second as his littlest brother hugged him tight.

He came back to reality when he felt someone else begin hugging him as well. Haruki had an embarrassed, remorseful expression on his face as he hugged his brother while still not looking him in the eyes.

"Sorry, I got so upset. I just thought you were leaving us behind like Dad always does," Haruki mumbled into his brother's shoulder. "I'll come visit you and see this boyfriend of yours. I gotta make sure he's worthy afterall."

Junichi smiled, "I'd like that."

And if they all fell asleep in the living room that night with half drank cups of tea on the coffee table then that just was how it was in the Todoroki house. The siblings had to stick together, through everything.

* * *

A month later Todoroki Enji came home to find his oldest son gone for the first time. He didn't even question it, and in fact, he just never mentioned that child, that _thing_ , again. His youngest daughter was also a year old now, but he certainly didn't care about her. She could have been even more worthless at this point.

Shouto wondered if he'd be able to leave that easily…

It was one day not too long after that, some time still during their summer break, that Shouto was walking back from Fuyumi's room with his hair in a messy ponytail and colorful barrettes holding back his bangs. He held his breathe as he walked past the door to the training room, trying to make as little noise as possible out of fear that his father would hear it and respond as expected, as dreaded.

"-a fool, a failure," Endeavor was saying. "How something so pathetic could have ended up with my Quirk I'll never know. Now stand up."

A moment of quiet as Shouto waited to hear what would happen next.

"Didn't you hear me? I said-" a struggle "Get" the sound of flesh hitting flesh "Up!"

"Fine." His quiet anger was always worse. "You want to act like a pitiful bitch then I'll beat you like one."

A coughing wheeze.

"Then do as I said. Up. Now."

Shouto didn't want to hear any more. He ran back to his room without a care as to how much noise he was making. He glanced longingly out the window to where the sun was setting and caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the glass.

He pulled the barrettes out of his hair so that he could no longer see the scarred flesh that the eyepatch that covered his broken eye could not fully hide. He collapsed on his bed, hiding his head in the pillows, trying to forget what he had just heard.

A couple of hours later he went to see Yukiko in her room in order to try to cheer himself up.

He stopped when he passed Haruki's room and heard quiet, choking sobs coming from within. He brought his hand up to knock, thought better about it, and then opened the door before his older brother had a chance to protest.

"Haruki?" The sobs ground to a sudden halt.

"What do you want?" It was meant to sound threatening, accusatory. It didn't come out that way.

"Are you…" Shouto stopped. "I mean, do you need anything?"

"Just get out Shouto," Haruki sounded exhausted.

"I'm worried Haru-nii."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine." He managed not to hiccup a sob that time.

Shouto said nothing to that, but he refused to leave. Haruki was anything but fine.

The older boy raised his head and glared. His eyes were red, his cheeks were tear-stained, his lip was torn and bleeding. And, _oh God_ , there was the hints of a burn around his neck in the shape of a hand. It wasn't the sort of thing that would scar, but it looked painful and raw.

"Just go Shouto. This doesn't concern you," he was staring deadly seriously into his brother's eye.

"But Haruki, maybe I could help," Shouto insisted, running up to his brother.

"No, Shouto. There's nothing you could do," Haruki was getting annoyed and frustrated at his brother and himself.

"But you need help. Maybe we should take you to a doctor to look at, or maybe Fuyumi could-" Shouto reached for his brother's shoulder.

"I don't need any of your damn help!" Haruki swatted the younger boy's hand away.

"But Haru-"

"No. There is nothing you could do to help, and there is absolutely nothing in this world I could ever want from you."

"Haruki, I can't just-"

"Dammit Shouto! Just get the fuck away from me!" He darted to his feet, looking down on Shouto. "I don't need you or Fuyumi or anyone else! So just stay away if you know what's good for you!"

"Please just-"

"What? What could _you_ do? You of all people? You're a cripple, a failure-"

"Haruki!" Shouto's eye teared up.

The older boy continued, walking forward so the younger was forced to scramble backwards. "A pitiful excuse for a son, someone who shouldn't even exist! It's your fault that Father's angry so much all the time. We were fine before you were born, and it was even better before you had to be the 'prodigy child'. But you're such a fuck up that you couldn't even do that right, could you?

"No. You had to go and screw that up too, and now because of you, Mom's dead. She's dead, and she's not coming back. There's no one for us now, and it's _all your fault._ "

Shouto was left staring straight ahead as Haruki slammed his door shut, locking it from the inside. It wouldn't have mattered. Shouto didn't try to open it again. He didn't cry; he didn't say anything. He just stood there staring forward without seeing anything.

He was still there when Fuyumi came looking for him some time later.

* * *

Shouto and Haruki avoided each other after that. For Haruki it was a simple matter of just spending less and less time in the house, choosing to hang out with friends and sleep over at their places. Sometimes he'd spend weekends at Junichi's.

Shouto spent more and more time with Fuyumi at the opposite end of the house just so he could be sure he wouldn't run into his brother when he was home. He like the different things his big sister could do with his hair, so he kept growing it out.

When they had to spend time in near vicinity to each other then they merely ignored each other, and if they had to interact then it was the bare minimum, and they treated each other as strangers.

In the quiet of his room Shouto grieved over the fact that he had lost both brothers over the course of a month. Sometimes he even clawed at his useless eye again. It never hurt to cut that side of his face, so he never stopped until the blood pooling in his hand snapped him back from the numbness. Sometimes his whole body felt just as numb as that side of his face.

When Fuyumi didn't know how to cheer Shouto up, when he was so lost in his own head that she couldn't reach him, she would lead the absent, unresponsive, apathetic boy to their baby sister's nursery, place the girl in his arms, and walk away.

Yukiko's chubby-cheeked smile could almost always bring the one-eyed boy back to reality. But there were some things that Yukiko couldn't fix…

Shouto started his first year at a public elementary school. He learned faster than the teachers could explain the concepts, and so he often found himself drawing during the classes instead of paying attention.

The teachers complained about his lack of attention, but Shouto knew all the information and more as he showed on his tests, so they did nothing. They had a lot more students that needed a lot more help than someone who just seemed too advanced. For all that they knew it was only in their class that this happened too, or at least, that was their rationale for inaction. Besides, the poor scarred kid deserved a break.

His peers were put off by his aloofness and his quiet introversion. They also weren't too keen to look at his scarred flesh for too long, or, as was more common amongst younger children, they couldn't look away from the eyepatch, ignoring the child it was attached to. Shouto wasn't one to seek out companionship especially amongst those who would either love him for his father or hate him for his "amazing Quirk." He also secretly feared that he might accidentally hurt them and prove himself even more like his father.

Overall, Shouto did not think very much of anything about school. It simply was something that was expected of him, so he did as he was led. Shouto still wasn't very used to choosing to do things for himself or acting out of self-interest.

Over that first year, Shouto saw less and less of his father. Not only did school distract him, but Endeavor was needed to protect the public even more. Something had happened to All Might, and as such the number two hero was left to pick up the slack.

Shouto had just turned ten-years-old when he decided to explore outside of his house for the first time. Fuyumi wasn't keeping as close an eye on him since she was so deeply invested in her studies at this point, and no one else in the family could be bothered to keep an eye on the youngest son.

He didn't go far, just walked around the block a few times before running back inside, terrified that if he stayed out any longer then he would surely be caught and punished. The feeling though, it was invigorating. He added it to part of his daily routine.

Soon he grew bolder, went further. He walked to the library all by himself and got more books to read. Shouto liked reading almost as much as he liked drawing, so he found himself sitting outside doing both as often as he could get away with it.

It was these trips that prompted him to ask Junichi if he could leave and walk to the park by himself when he visited his older brother one day. His older brother had been hesitant at first but, with some prompting from his boyfriend, had agreed.

That first trip to the park was arguably the best day of Shouto's life.

* * *

Ooh boy, this ended up a little more emotional than I was anticipating... We really went on a roller coaster of emotions there...

On a different note, originally when I was creating the personalities of the siblings, I was planning on Junichi just hinting at his relationship during his explanation for leaving, but hey, he wanted to be even more violently gay than I planned...

I think I like ellipsis more than necessary...


	3. Chapter 2: The Fairy Boy

Woot! New chapter! This one's a little shorter because the spring semester just started, but I wanted to get it out! Plus I didn't feel like trying to jam any more scenes into it.

On the plus side, no angsty warnings this time, just fluff.

I didn't expect it to take so long for Shouto to get to the park, but Junichi and Akira turned out to both be needy gays.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this story so far!

Enjoy!

* * *

Fuyumi looked surprised when Shouto asked if he could visit Junichi for a week during summer break.

"Is it not a good idea?" Shouto asked, suddenly self-conscious. Was he only supposed to visit Junichi if the older one requested it first?

"Oh, no, that's not it Shouto," the young woman was quick to reassure. "It's just that you hadn't shown an interest in visiting him before now. Usually that's something that Haruki…" she cleared her throat, glancing awkwardly at her younger brother. "Well anyway, I think it's a great idea. We can call him now if you'd like."

Shouto visibly brightened, a small smile forming on his lips as he hummed an affirmative in response.

Once all the details were figured out, Shouto found himself constantly thinking about and preparing for that single week even though it was nearly a month away. He packed his suitcase perhaps seven different times. He baked cookies with Fuyumi to bring to their house. He drew and colored pictures for gifts for Junichi and his boyfriend.

Not soon enough, Shouto was walking hand in hand with Fuyumi from the train station to the apartment complex that Junichi stayed in.

"Here we are: apartment number 208."

Shouto was suddenly, inexplicably nervous as he stared at the plain-looking door in front of him. He took a deep breath, looked up at Fuyumi's content smile for comfort, and knocked on the door.

It was almost immediately opened by a man with brown hair and glasses.

"Akira!" Shouto cried happily.

"Hey squirt," the man greeted equally happily, pulling the young boy into a hug, ruffling his dual-colored hair. "And how are you Fuyumi? Will you be staying for lunch?"

"I'm doing well Akira. I have some paperwork that's calling my name back at the house, so not today I'm afraid," she passed the bag she was carrying to the slightly younger man. "Is Junichi around though? I wanted to talk to him for a second."

"Sure, he's in the kitchen," Akira moved back to let the woman inside. "I'll get the pipsqueak settled while you chat."

Shouto grumbled at that, pouting a bit, but he quickly got over it and raced Akira through the small apartment and into the room that served as both an office and the guest bedroom. He helped heave out the foldaway bed before plopping himself onto it in a faceplant.

"How was the end of the school year?" Akira asked, reclining himself next to the young boy. "Did you have fun? Make any friends? A crush maybe?"

He nudged Shouto with his elbow, prompting the boy to begin grumbling.

"School was school, Akira," he rolled his eyes as though the man had asked him the stupidest, most obvious question in the world. "It was too easy as usual, but they stopped yelling at me for drawing in class by the end. I don't really talk to the other kids, but that's fine."

"Oh, how has your drawing been going? Did you have fun with the new colored pencils I got you? That brand is my favorite."

"Mhm," talking about art always got Shouto excited. "I've been trying really hard to make a face like you taught me, so it looks like a real person, but it's so hard! I don't know how you do Akira. I don't think I'll ever be as good as you."

"Hey, now, you just need practice!" Akira encouraged. "I remember when I was your age, I was terrible! I probably couldn't even draw a stick figure right, so you're already loads better of than me. You'll be a great artist someday! Imagine it, Todoroki Shouto: World's Greatest Hero and Artist."

"You think so?" Shouto's eyes were bright and hopeful. "You think I could do both?"

"If anyone can, it'd be you."

They stayed that way for a while. Shouto liked talking to Akira, and Akira had always wanted siblings of his own, so it was a win-win.

Eventually Junichi appeared, inviting them to come eat the lunch he had prepared.

Sitting at the simple table in the kitchen with only the company of his oldest brother and his boyfriend with no expectations upon him, Shouto couldn't help but feel content.

* * *

Akira was a very pretty man, at least, Shouto thought so. He had straight, fine, brown hair- even longer than Fuyumi's- pulled into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. His eyes were a rich caramel brown that seemed to somehow brighten of their own accord behind the lenses of his glasses. He already had the beginning of crow's feet at the corners of his eyes; he laughed a lot and smiled even more.

He was also a lot less strict than Junichi.

He let Shouto watch five more minutes of television even when Junichi had told him to get into his pajamas for bed three times already, and he always told Shouto one more story every time he asked, and he even let Shouto take a shower when Junichi was still scared he would slip, fall, and drown himself in it.

It was because of this fact that Shouto was finally able to leave the apartment all by himself by the time his third day at the apartment rolled around.

They were sitting at the table eating cereal with the most sugar that Shouto had ever eaten. He enjoyed it thoroughly; however, Fuyumi probably would have disapproved of it thoroughly. Somehow that almost made it taste even better. Shouto like being secretly rebellious; even if it was only in his mind.

"Fuyumi and I passed a park on our way when we walked here from the train station," Shouto commented nonchalantly.

"Oh really?" Junichi raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "And what about this park?"

"Well, I thought I might like to see it. It had lots of trees that looked good for climbing," he said this with utmost solemnity.

"And you think you have to go see these trees?" Junichi questioned rhetorically.

Shouto shot his most innocent expression towards his older brother.

"Shouto, we talked about this. Akira and I both work during the day, so you have to stay here where he can keep an eye on you," Junichi sighed.

"But I'm ten now! I can so go by myself! It's like a block away," Shouto protested.

"Shouto," Junichi had his serious "adult voice" on. "You're still a child, and this week at least you are a child of whom I am responsible for. I can't just let you wonder the town by yourself."

Shouto turned his focus towards the more easily swayed target. (It helped that Akira never had siblings that made him acclimated against such pleas.) His puppy eyes had never been more effective.

"Well Junichi-"

Said man groaned, knowing it was now a lost battle with his boyfriend siding with his brother.

"I'm just saying that Shouto's been very good these last couple days. He hasn't bothered my work at all, and really, he's a good kid," Akira advocated.

Junichi remained unamused and unenthused.

"And if it really bothers you so much then I can send my cell with him, and if there's a problem then he can use it to call you or the landline."

Junichi heaved a great sigh, eyes drifting towards heaven as though praying for strength. "Fine," he relented.

Shouto cheered, and if Akira looked a bit smug from his boyfriend's acceptance than hey, artists had to stick together!

"But!" Junichi interrupted before they could gain too much enthusiasm. "You will call if anything- _anything-_ goes wrong, and you _will_ be back in the apartment before six. You'll have Akira's phone, so no excuses that you didn't realize the time. That being said, you will only use that phone to contact us, nothing more."

Shouto nodded earnestly before pointedly looking down at his empty bowl and back at his brother, wanting to head to his room and out the door as quickly as possible.

Junichi rolled his eyes. "Begone with you."

Shouto smiled, hugged his brother, then Akira, and ran off to get dressed.

"And Shouto," Junichi called, causing the younger boy to pause and look back. He smiled contentedly. "Have fun."

It was a mark of how happy Shouto was that his smile this time showed some teeth.

Akira preened like a peacock as he nursed his coffee after the young boy had left. He looked at his boyfriend a bit too smugly.

"What?" A smile pulling at Junichi's lips even as he rolled his eyes.

"You're a good brother," Akira commented simply.

"Yeah, yeah," But Junichi could not deny the fact that that comment caused him to preen a bit too.

* * *

At precisely 10:43am on July 12th, Shouto exited his eldest brother's apartment. Junichi had forced Akira to make Shouto do chores before he left for the park. What he did for freedom…

Approximately eight and a half minutes later, four blocks, two turns- one right, one left, Shouto found himself looking at the park from the opposite side of the street.

He counted four different mothers in various states of lack of focus, one father trying to juggle a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler, and children of varying ages and sizes spread across the jungle gyms, the swingsets, and the open field and small patch of woods behind it.

There was a group of high schoolers playing ultimate frisbee in the open grass, a squad of middle school girls gossipping on top of one of the larger, separated pieces of equipment, and far too many boogers and bugs going into mouths than Shouto ever wanted to see.

He took a deep breath, convinced himself that going back to the apartment so soon after all his begging was stupid, looked both ways, and carefully picked his way across the street, around the edge of the park, and into the brush at the back.

It was the sort of spot that children would call the woods before they knew any better. The kind with a small stream that barely reached your knees and half a dozen rundown tree and stick forts within it.

Shouto had never seen so much green; he liked it.

It was calm and peaceful here in a way that his house never was. It wasn't as quiet, the noises of the park, though faded, still reached into the leaves, but those sounds of happy people somehow made it even more calming than the harsh, bitter silence of his house. It helped that there was so much more life here, that the children looked happy here. There was no fire, no anger.

Shouto knelt over the crick, gaze following the quick glide of the tiny fish within the small pond of water. He picked up a nearby stick and began drawing designs into the water, entranced by the way his poking and prodding created different ripples in the waters, mesmerized by the way the fish fled the different ripples and pokes of the stick.

"Kacchan!"

Shouto was startled out of his trance by the crying voice. He barely caught himself from taking a sudden plunge into the shallow waters.

"C'mon! I give up!" the voice continued, a vague shadow of another kid moving through the bushes. "You win; you're too good at hiding! Why don't you be seeker now?"

For a moment Shouto almost thought that one of the bushes had come to life itself, or perhaps this was some kind of fae, a nymph maybe, that lived within these trees because the boy had the most green hair Shouto had ever seen.

He looked like he belonged in these trees with his lightly tanned skinned, spattering of freckles, and halo of sunlight.

The two locked eyes, both suddenly appearing like deer caught in the headlights.

Shouto scrambled onto his feet and took a fretful step backwards, eye darting around, looking for a way to escape. This was a terrible idea; people were a terrible idea; they were terrifying.

"Oh, uh sorry," the forest boy hesitantly apologized. At the first sylabil, Shouto's eye locked onto the fairy's face. "You- uh- haven't seen a blonde boy hiding in here, have you?"

Shouto hesitantly shook his head, eye never leaving the green one's face. If he kept eye contact then it wouldn't have the chance to attack without him having some warning. He could defend himself just fine, maybe. Who knew what strange magical powers this possible nymph could have…

It had already lost one boy, maybe it would choose him as a replacement. He knew fairies took changeling children; who's to say that wouldn't happen to him now. He should leave, get as far from the strange not-child as possible. But fairies could change their shape, so who knew if he could ever actually escape.

And besides- oh, he was talking again.

"-Midoriya Izuku," the green one smiled, and it was at once the most disarmingly pure thing and yet also increasingly terrifying. If he held this much sunshine then it must be some kind of magic; Shouto couldn't give in. "What's yours?"

And so as eloquently as he could given the increasing amounts of equal terror and equal peace, Shouto responded to the otherworldly creature with a, "Huh?"

"Your name," he prompted again. "My mom taught me to always introduce yourself first when meeting someone new. I'm Midoriya Izuku, so who're you?"

"Oh, uh…" Could fairies do something with names? Or was that vampires? Demons? Well, he'd just give him half of it anyway. "I'm Shouto. Uh, you can just call me that…"

"Well then, I guess you can call me Izuku!" His grin was so kind and bright that at that point Shouto didn't even mind if he did end up being some vindictive fae.

"So, uh, what were you doing before you came here? You said you were looking for someone," Shouto essentially answered his own question lamely, stance relaxing.

Izuku meandered his way down towards Shouto at the edge of the crick. "Oh, well I was playing hide and seek with Kacchan and some of his friends, but I haven't seen them since I started looking. They're really good at this game I guess…"

He trailed off in a way that made him seem far more fragile and infinitely more human to Shouto all of a sudden. Izuku didn't even seem to believe his own words in that moment.

"Uh, well, maybe they just wandered off or forgot," Shouto offered pitifully.

"Well, what were you doing? You looked really focused," Izuku seemed happier to move past the previous topic of whoever this "Kacchan" was.

Shouto felt his cheeks redden at the thought of being caught doing something so silly and childish as playing in a puddle.

"I was just- uh, well- I was just looking at the little fish and poking at the water. I like seeing the different waves I can make…" That sounded stupid even to his own ears, and he felt his blush deepen. He tucked his face away from the other boy as he always did when caught doing something juvenile, body tensing as though expecting some punishment for his childish actions.

"There are fish in there?" Izuku asked excitedly, rushing closer and kneeling beside Shouto's legs, staring intently at the small stream.

"Yeah…" Shouto answered pathetically. Stupid! Izuku was already looking at them; of course he now knew there were fish in there!

"Kacchan always scares away all the animals with his 'splosions, so I never even realized they were there. I wonder what kind of fish they are. Judging by a body of water this size they're probably just minnows. But if there are fish then there must be all sorts of bugs around here too in order for them to eat. I wonder if that also means there are frogs around here too, or maybe even a turtle or two that would…" Izuku seemed to realize where he was all of a sudden. He leapt back to his feet, gasping.

"I'm sorry about that; you prob'ly think I'm kinda weird, huh?" His eyes earnestly gazed into Shouto's, searching for the judgement he expected to be seated upon the other boy's face.

"It's alright. You can talk for the both of us; I don't mind," Shouto offered simply, anything to get those intense green eyes from inspecting his person too closely. His bangs were covering his eyepatch and scar weren't they? They had to be otherwise Izuku definitely would have commented on it by now…

Izuku squinted his eyes a bit and puckered his lips as though closely critiquing Shouto like some sort of art piece in a museum. "Hmmm," he hummed in thought.

Shouto tried to look as natural as possible as though he wasn't secretly terrified out of his mind that he was actively interacting with another human that appeared to be around his age.

"I think I like you Shouto!" Izuku finally announced as simply and honestly as he seemed to do everything else.

"Oh," Shouto took a step back as though those words had been a physical blow to his gut, air puffing out of his lungs.

"Uh, you seem nice too…?" Shouto trailed off. Oh God, he made it weird. Here was a nice boy (possibly even a nice _magical_ boy) and he had just screwed it all up. He was an idiot, a moron, a nincompoop, a-

"I'm glad. So you wanna play something together? We could be heroes!" Izuku's eyes lit up even further (if that was even possible) at his own suggestion.

"Sure," Shouto agreed hesitantly. He shouldn't argue with a fairy. "But uh, I kind of don't know how…"

Izuku looked surprised at first before giving a grin that somehow showed all his teeth and yet still fit perfectly on his face. "Well, that's easy! You just do hero stuff like run around and climb trees. Maybe we'll have to investigate a villain's hideout and be all sneaky, or we could just skip straight to fighting them! You don't have to really do anything special, just what you think a hero would do!"

What he thought a hero would do, huh? Well if he was All Might then it'd be a lot of smiling, but Shouto didn't really do that. If he was Endeavor, no. He'd never be that type of "hero." He'd never be anything like his father. So what was a hero to him then?

"But if I was hero then I'd want to save people, so who are we saving?" Shouto asked.

Izuku thought about it thoroughly for a few moments before he had a sudden realization. "We can protect these fish! Any villain could hurt them easy, so we gotta protect them."

Shouto agreed to the idea and quickly followed Izuku as he pranced through the woods.

* * *

A few hours later and Shouto was feeling significantly less apprehensive about coming to the park and interacting with someone new that was around his age. He was not, however, any less convinced that Izuku was secretly some type of forest fairy.

As far as Shouto knew, the ways the green-haired boy was acting were in no way reminiscent of the typical actions and reactions that normal children his age acted. Now he knew he wasn't very reminiscent of those qualities either, but at least he acknowledged it. Izuku just seemed to pretend he was normal.

That wasn't to say that Shouto in any way didn't _like_ Izuku. Heavens, no! But just Izuku was rather… odd.

He talked more easily and far longer than anyone Shouto had ever met, but even that in itself wasn't all that strange. Rather, it was what he talked about when he mumbled and rambled that confused Shouto.

Izuku seemed smart, making connections and conclusions that Shouto might never have even dreamed possible; however, he never really talked about important things.

He would wonder and worry over the ecosystem of the forest, and his brow would furrow as he fretted over the appearance of the sky. But he never asked much of anything in particular about Shouto. He didn't seem to really care about where Shouto came from, but instead, he seemed content with just getting to know him naturally as Shouto felt the need to reveal information. He never judged or prodded for further answers, seemingly perpetually content with all the information he received.

It was odd but nice.

Izuku talked a lot about Quirks too. He would explain exactly what all the villains could do and how they could defeat them, and when they got tired of running around and they sat together simply watching the rest of the park from beneath the shade of a large oak tree, Izuku would make guesses and predictions about what Quirks the different people in the park had.

Even with his seeming encyclopedic knowledge of Quirks, he never asked about Shouto's nor did he ever speak of- or even hint at- his own.

It was strange, but around Izuku, Shouto almost felt like a normal person for once. The other boy wasn't hanging out with him because he was related or because they were in the same class or because he knew who his father was.

If Shouto could have this sort of anonymity of persona with everyone then maybe the world would be a little bit easier to traverse.

* * *

It was still light out when Shouto finally left. Of course it was. It was the middle of the summer, so even at 5:30 at night, sunset was probably still another two hours away still.

It was with the same nervous energy before but infinitely more reluctance that Shouto finally admitted, "I should probably get going soon; my brother will be expecting me."

Izuku's face twisted in displeasure before he asked, "What time _is_ it?"

"Almost 5:30."

Izuku's lips parted in surprise, eyes widening a bit. "Really? Wow, I didn't even realize it had gotten so late so quickly. I guess I got distracted 'cause I had so much fun playing with you today, Shouto. It was great! I really like it. You did too right? So we can hang out here again tomorrow? Maybe? I mean if that's okay with you? I just had a good time, so I thought it'd be nice to do it again maybe…"

Shouto smiled. Someone had fun with him, _him_ , and what's more they wanted to hang out again! "I'd like that."

Izuku beamed, "Yes! So we can meet at the little stream again tomorrow at 10 okay? It'll be like our special, super secret hideout!"

"Whatever you'd like Izuku."

Izuku's cheeks tinged with red from his exuberance. "But wow, you said it's like 5:30. Well my mom's probably expecting me at home soon, so I should get going before she gets too worried. Otherwise she might come out here to try to find me, and if she has to do that again then she probably won't let me come hang out again tomorrow, and I don't want that to happen. So we should go, or I should go, or I guess if we end up going the same way, we could- I don't know- walk together maybe?

"Though you probably have had enough of me by now, so you don't have too. Besides, I don't even know where you live, so we could be going completely opposite directions, and I don't want you to feel like you _have_ to come with me but I guess well I'd like if we could keep talking so…"

Shouto was content to just listen to him ramble. He had so many interesting thoughts, and he shared them so honestly, so earnestly, so unlike anyone else he had ever met.

"Sorry," Izuku's green hair was all he could see as the other boy bowed his head in apology. "You probably didn't want to hear all that. We should go."

The strange, magical boy walked stiffly away, trying to hide his embarrassment. They were walking in the same direction out of the park.

As they did so Shouto finally spoke up again, "I didn't mind. I like it. When you ramble like that, I mean. It's refreshing."

Izuku peered up at him through his eyelashes, a hesitant smile spreading across his still rosy cheeks. Shouto liked the strange mix of pink flush, tanned skin, and spattering of brown freckles.

"Thanks," it was quieter than most everything else Shouto had heard come from Izuku's mouth, but it seemed just as sincere.

They walked the same way in quiet companionship for a while before Shouto finally turned into the apartment complex that housed his brother. "This is my stop."

"Alright! I still have a bit to go, but now I know where you live!"

Shouto didn't bother correcting him; he just nodded and made to go inside.

"Shouto wait!"

He stopped and turned back only to be barrelled into by an excited Izuku.

"I really did have lots of fun," he looked up into Shouto's face so the other boy could see his sincerity. "And I'll see you soon!"

Izuku ran off, but Shouto stood there for a fair many moments trying to comprehend what in the hell had just happened. Some non-relative had just hugged him after knowing him for a single day. That same someone acted like seeing Shouto was going to be the highlight of their day tomorrow, and they had rambled substantially that meeting Shouto had definitely been the highlight of this day.

Shouto shook his head slowly as though jostling his brain could get the thoughts to sit properly in his skull. He turned back towards the building and trudged his way back to Junichi and Akira's apartment.

Let it not be mistaken. Shouto thoroughly enjoyed meeting Izuku and relished the idea of spending another long, fabulous day with the green-haired boy, but he was almost too much for Shouto to comprehend or even dream of understanding.

Midoriya Izuku had to be some sort of fae; there was no other explanation.

* * *

A note on Akira: he's an artist by trade so he works from their apartment. I chose a gender neutral name since I though it felt right for his character as this sort of ambiguous parental role. His last name is Kobayashi, a common Japanese last name. He's almost a year older than Junichi with his birthday being August 5 (because that's my luff's birthday 3). His Quirk allows him to dye things he can hold in his hands. He has to be able to lift the object, and it can't be alive. So he can't dye cars or people; however, he can dye hair since those are dead cells.


	4. Chapter 3: A Change of Plans

Thanks MidnaMoo, Lady of the Fates, and Ashikaga-chan417 for the reviews! Much appreciated! Also thanks to everyone who just reads this; your quiet support is equally appreciated!

Sorry this chapter is a bit late, but I just got back from con so I was quite busy last week and this weekend! Saw lots of cool cosplay and bought so much BNHA merch.

So anyways, thanks again for the support and happy reading y'all!

* * *

"Woah there!" Junichi stuck out his arm, stopping Shouto from barrelling through the apartment haphazardly. "Where's the fire?"

Shouto rolled his eye in response and made to step around his older brother. The white-haired man cut him off again.

"And where is it you think you're going this morning? You already rushed through breakfast, so what is it you think you're doing now?"

Shouto huffed, red creeping up into his cheeks as he purposefully avoided eye contact with his brother. "I'm going to the park again."

"Uh-huh," Junichi had that smugly amused smirk on his face again. "Right, the _park_. Is that what the kids are calling it today?"

"Yeah. The park, so…" the younger boy trailed off. "Can I go now or what?"

"Let's back up the sass there, and let's have you tell me what's so good about this park that you're running around the room like Akira gave you too much sugar again," Junichi sat on the couch and gestured for Shouto to sit on the floor in front of him to answer.

The one-eyed boy sighed again. "I had fun yesterday," he responded simply.

"You had fun by yourself at a park? Outside? Without a book? Without paper to draw on? At a _park_?" Junichi knew his little brother's personality very well, and the image of Shouto did not mesh with a busy park full of screaming children. "So where are you really off to?"

"I really am going to the park!" Shouto insisted, voice cracking in frustration. "I'm gonna be late too!"

"Late? For what exactly?" God, that smirk on Junichi's face was so annoying too!

Shouto mumbled something that might have been an answer.

"Shouto." And now he had his arms crossed and that serious "you better tell me the truth immediately" face on.

He didn't like lying to his brother, and anyway, even if he did lie, Junichi probably had a polygraph that only worked for his siblings embedded into his brain that would give him away.

"I met a friend yesterday, and we're going to hang out again today," Shouto preferred to make eye contact with the floor instead of his brother. "Can I go now? I'm gonna be late."

"Oh a friend huh? What kind of friend?" Junichi sounded irritatingly smug. "Must be some kind of friend to make _you_ lose your cool like this? So what's their name?"

"Izuku," Shouto grumbled, knowing he wouldn't be getting away until the man was satisfied.

"Oh, that doesn't sound like a last name to me. On a first name basis already? My, my, you work fast little bro. So what kind of date are you goin-"

"Akira!" Shouto called for backup. "Junichi's being mean to me!"

As suddenly as someone with a teleportation quirk, Akira appeared, wiping his paint-coated hands on a damp towel.

"What's he doing this time little man?" Akira was much nicer than Junichi.

"I want to just go to the park to play with my friend, but Brother keeps making fun of me and not letting me leave!" Shouto complained, shifting agitatedly in front of the artist.

Akira shared a look with his boyfriend, silently asking him why he insisted in antagonizing the young boy. "Well that wasn't very nice." Then quieter, as though it were a secret, he stage-whispered to Shouto. "I think he's just jealous because he's always late to places that he wants you to be late for once too. He also thinks being late makes him cool though, so I wouldn't listen to him.

"And Junichi's not going to stop you now is he?" Akira asked, louder again, giving him another pointed look.

The white-haired man rolled his eyes. "Go ahead brat. Scram."

It was Shouto's turn to smirk smugly at his brother as he scampered down the hall and out the door as quickly as he could. Stupid Junichi, making him late. Well Akira would take care of him now; he'd get quite an earful.

And if no one told Shouto that immediately after rushing Junichi got out of his punishment simply by pressing a heated kiss to his boyfriend's lips well then that just meant that Shouto got to retain that small part of his innocence for a little while longer yet.

* * *

Izuku already had his shoes and socks off and his feet dangling in the shallow waters when Shouto finally made it to their secret meeting spot. He was huffing and puffing from how quickly he had sprinted the few blocks to reach the park. He was worried the other boy might leave and think he forgot him if he wasn't precisely on time.

Shouto was not nearly as elegant at running through the woods as Izuku seemed to be when they had done so yesterday (further proof that he was some sort of forest nymph), and so he made enough noise for a man stumbling along about five times his size. As such there was no sneaking up on Izuku even if the boy had been so deep in thought that he wasn't aware of his surroundings.

Shouto was fairly positive that even if Izuku had been in mid-mumbling rant that he would have noticed when Shouto had arrived purely because Shouto sounded like he had made if his job to crush every fallen leaf and branch in the general vicinity.

As such when Shouto arrived, Izuku looked up immediately. The green-haired boy's face lit up. His eyes sparkled, and his lips stretched wide across his cheeks, teeth gleaming.

Shouto's face was red, hot, and sweaty, but his grin was just as sincere as Izuku's even if it wasn't quite so large or brilliant.

"Shouto!" Izuku cried in pure joy. He leapt to his feet and ran over to give his new friend a hug, not caring about the mud that now clung to his feet.

The slightly younger boy still didn't know quite how to process or respond to this sort of physical greeting. He patted Izuku's shoulder awkwardly a few times before they parted.

Izuku beamed up at him again and ran back over to the creak, pulling Shouto along with him this time. "C'mon! I was just sticking my feet in the water! It feels really good, all nice and cold compared to the hot sun. Plus then we can stick our feet in the mud as much as we want, and it doesn't even matter! I think if we stay still then we could even find some frogs around the edge of the pond too."

One of Shouto's shoes and socks was personally removed by the excited boy while Shouto himself took care of the other one.

He slowly lowered his feet into the shadowed waters, breath hitching at the first feel of the cold water against his skin. He took a calming breath before slowly plunging them down all the way. Izuku was right though, it did feel a lot better than the ache of the searing sun from earlier.

The way they sat in that pond said a lot about their personalities, in particular, how they dealt with nervousness.

Izuku was restless, constantly moving and shifting. When he wasn't muttering and mumbling, he was talking louder directly to Shouto, never allowing a complete silence to fall over them. His feet plodded around in the muck within the water or skimmed over the top. His hands fidgeted first in his lap then in the grass beside him then with this twig then with that leaf. His gaze would move from the pond to whatever he was playing with to the sunlight sifting through the leaves above to Shouto's face for just an instant before going back to the waters again.

In complete antithesis with him, Shouto sat still and straight and composed. His back and shoulders were tensed in rigid perfection. His feet dangled in the water, never falling all the way to the mud at the bottom nor moving upwards to skim the surface. His hands sat folded in his lap as though he were praying to any god who would listen for whatever sort of courage they could spare. His eye sometimes glanced at Izuku's face when he spoke a little bit louder than usual or made too sudden a movement, but otherwise, they were fixed before him.

Where the day previous they had been happy and eager to run about and play however they were able, now they seemed suddenly anxious about making a move just in case it should prove to be the wrong one.

Izuku talked of nothing in particular for a long time as they slowly grew more comfortable just sitting next to each other again.

"How do you sit so still Shouto?" Izuku gasped, causing the other boy to tense a bit more and glance at him.

Izuku wasn't looking back at Shouto though; instead, his gaze was fixed on the clear waters around Shouto's ankles. He looked down at his own feet too. There were minnows flitting around his flesh, not frightened by what just seemed another couple of rocks in their pond.

"They don't even care!" Izuku's voice was so full of awe that it caused heat to rise in Shouto's cheeks, and he rubbed at one awkwardly, not sure if that was a compliment or not. "That's so cool!"

Well, that answered that question. Shouto was terrified for a moment that he had done something wrong once again, that Izuku would realize how stupid and strange Shouto was and wouldn't want to hang around him anymore. He had always been criticized for how he acted. He was either too much of a child or not enough of one. Shouto wasn't even sure he knew how he was supposed to act anymore.

"I'd never be able to sit so long like that," Izuku was still amazed, and it made Shouto feel _wonderful._ "My mom complains about that a lot too; she says I have too much energy for such a tiny body. I'll show her though because someday all that energy will come in handy when I'm a hero!"

"I might be able to sit really still, but I don't think I could ever move as easy as you do in the woods," Shouto commented, hoping he sounded encouraging. Izuku didn't look very disappointed over Shouto's ability to become as a statue, but Shouto would be the first to admit that he really didn't understand emotions very well. "Plus, you do have a lot more energy than me. I can't move quietly, and you can't stay quiet for long, so I guess neither of us will be stealth heroes."

"Mm," Izuku agreed, smiling contently at the other boy, eyes gleaming. "But I don't think I'd complain about that. I want to be a hero who saves everyone out in the open with a smile on my face, so they know they don't have to worry any more! I'll be like All Might, so no one has to be afraid ever again!"

"I like that dream," Shouto replies simply, hand unconsciously coming up to gently touch the scar around his useless eye. "I think you could do it too."

He missed the stricken face that Izuku wore, Shouto's belief hitting the green-haired boy square in the chest. _No one_ had ever believed that he could become a hero. His own mother had given up over half his life ago. And sure, Shouto didn't know the truth (Izuku was terrified of what his response might be), but he still believed. And at least for now, that was enough.

And so the two boys stayed like that for another half hour. Content to share a companionable silence with minnows flitting by their ankles, lost in their own thoughts and beliefs about heroes, completely overwhelmed by the acceptance of the other.

* * *

They sounded like firecrackers, small, controlled, but harmless for all intents and purposes.

Those sounds were the first thing to break the two boys out of their quiet reverie. Shouto looked around, the echo of the trees preventing him from pinpointing the noise's point of origin. Izuku tensed, shoulders raising to cover his ears as though that might block out the sounds, might make them all imaginatory, might make them less real.

Following the sounds of miniature fireworks came the calls of boyish laughter, bright and eager and a bit too mischievous, a bit too cruel. Izuku jumped quickly to his feet; Shouto followed after.

A mop of light blonde hair peaked over the crest of the hill between the bushes. He had red eyes squinted from the vicious smirk that carved itself across his face. Everything about him was jagged and sharp as though just by drawing near him, one wouldn't be able to escape getting cut. Sparks formed and burst from his palms, sending a furious through his already terrifying eyes. His clothes were oversized and baggy as though he had to keep room for his ego in them. He wore his pride like a crown, relishing in his own self-importance.

That was the first time Shouto saw Bakugou Katsuki. He didn't like him. The feeling was mutual.

The blonde-haired boy stopped laughing when he caught sight of Izuku. His hand curled into a fist around a final explosion, this one far larger than any of the previous, leaving behind a dense cloud of smoke and an acrid scent that blew towards Shouto. It burned his lungs.

"Have you been hiding in this damn forest since yesterday, Deku?" He sneered. "What? So damn useless that you couldn't find us, so you decided to hide here?"

When Izuku didn't answer, he scoffed. "You really are pathetic."

Shouto's brow crinkled in righteous fury. Izuku wasn't standing up for himself, but why? He had so many words all the time, but it seemed that when confronted by this cruel boy with bombs for hands and daggers for words, Izuku completely shut down. It was strange for Shouto to experience the other side of the situation, more willing to use words than his normally talkative friend.

"He's not," Shouto would never claim to be as elegant with words as Izuku.

The boy finally seemed to notice that there was someone else standing before him and gave Shouto a perusing glance, eyes raking across his form to land upon his scarred and eyepatched half.

"What you say two-face?" he made a face, holding up his smoking palm in a threat as though daring Shouto to repeat what he foolishly burst out.

But Shouto was foolishly brave or at least bravely foolish, and Izuku was at his shoulder, and Izuku had been the one who had words when he had none, so it was his turn to do something for the green-haired boy. "I said, 'he's not pathetic.'"

The blonde's eyes regained some of that cruel glint again, hand sparking to match. "See," he grinned; it wasn't a nice one. "That's what I thought I heard, but I didn't think someone was stupid enough to stand up for shitty Deku. How much did he have to give you to be his friend?"

He glared back at Izuku again. "'Cause no one'd ever choose it 'cause they wanted to. So what? You a bodyguard or somethin'?"

Shouto merely glared back quietly in response.

"Or maybe it's just that you're so pathetic that you don't even care. I mean, who'd want to hang out with a shitty face like that?"

Shouto's glare remained in place. This was better. This he could handle. The boy had switched to insulting Shouto himself, and there was nothing he could say that Shouto hadn't heard either from one of his own family members or just from the demons in his head.

"I could always give you a makeover. Fix it up, so the two sides match," his hand sparked, crackled, and burst ominously. "Wanna try it burn boy? You probably wouldn't even see it coming, so just stay still, and I'll-"

Izuku erupted from Shouto's side with a great bellowing cry. A tear or two trickled out as he swung his fist towards the other boy. It held all the speed and power Izuku could muster, all the emotion he could project, all the thoughts and fears he would never admit aloud, all compounded in a single fist.

It didn't even connect. The blonde boy caught the wrist in his left hand and thrust with his right. A small explosion sounded as the fist impacted with Izuku's chest. The green-haired boy was sent flying back from the combined impact of punch and explosion. He landed flat on his back, breath sputtering out of his gasping mouth, eyes closed in pain.

His shirt was smoking as he heaved in a breath, trying to regain the wind that was knocked out of him.

The blonde boy went to approach Izuku and continue his beating.

Shouto stepped in front of him. "That's enough," there was no room for question in the boy's voice, ice crystallizing along his right side. "It shouldn't matter to you why Izuku and I are friends. You're not friends with either of us, so just walk away and leave us alone."

"Yeah? And what could you do you bastard-" He went to take an intimidating step forward but found he couldn't.

A path of ice led from Shouto's right foot to both of the blonde boy's, holding him in place.

"Tch," he sneered. He did that a lot. "Whatever. Let's go."

He gestured to the two other boys that had followed him to the clearing that had been quietly awaiting further command from their boss. Shouto let the ice melt, freeing the blonde.

Even if it was rather tempting to keep him trapped there and let him try to escape for himself, or perhaps even let him feel the sting of the cold a bit more (if he was feeling truly vengeful and sadistic), Shouto would still rather just be rid of the problem as painlessly as possible.

When they had left and were out of Shouto's line of sight, he heaved a deep sigh, allowing his eye to close and his shoulders to relax in relief. He hadn't realized until then how tense he had become during the altercation.

"Ugh," Izuku groaned, and Shouto suddenly remembered his hurt friend.

He hurried over to where the green-haired boy was trying to push himself up into a sitting position. He helped guide and assist his friend into a sitting position, letting Izuku lean on him for support.

Izuku shook his head as though trying to clear it, but groaned again in discomfort, handing coming up to clench at his curly green locks.

"Are you okay, Izuku?" Shouto asked, concerned and looking all around his friend's body for signs of other injuries from the small scuffle.

There was slight burn from where the blonde's fist had impacted, and a bruise already formed on the hefty bump that sat squarely on his chest in the same spot. There was an assortment of leaves, twigs, gravel, and dirt adhering to much of Izuku's clothes and hair. The most alarming, however, was the slight wet spot that dampened the hair on the back of his head.

Shouto took a better look at the ground where his friend had landed, and sure enough, there was a larger rock that had drops and splotches of blood on its surface. Shouto knew from experience that wounds on the head not only hurt but also bled a great deal, so he knew he wouldn't be able to accurately judge how injured Izuku truly was. The burn at least didn't look so bad, but Shouto was used to flames and heat that was far harsher than what most anyone else was used to dealing with, so he wasn't sure he could judge that accurately either.

"Do you think you can stand Izuku?" Shouto asked, unsure if he could fully carry the boy all the way back to his brother's apartment by himself.

Izuku hummed incoherently, stretching out his limbs while looking at them as though he couldn't quite tell if they were his or not. He mumbled something too quietly for Shouto to hear though it didn't quite sound like English to begin with.

"Izuku," Shouto called again, putting his hands on both of the other boy's shoulders and looking him square in the face. "Are you okay?"

The green-haired boy seemed to return to himself in that moment for he looked directly back into Shouto's eye with a spark of clarity skimming through his iris. "Y-yeah," he finally managed.

"Can you stand?"

"I can try, but maybe…" he trailed off. "Could you help?"

"Of course," Shouto assured. "I'm not going to leave you behind, Izuku."

A tentative smile plucked at the injured boy's lips, and though he was ruffled and not yet fully aware of himself, he was awe-inspiringly happy.

Shouto thought he too could be happy no matter what if he could just always have that smile around.

* * *

The sun was still high in the sky by the time Shouto trudged up to his brother's apartment building with Izuku's weight half-slung over his shoulder. The green-haired boy had luckily gained coherence as they walked, the fresh wind helping to bring him back to himself. The downside was that the more aware he became, the more apparent the pain became.

As such the trudge up the stairs to the second floor was the hardest part of their walk even though it was the final homestretch.

"Akira!" Shouto called as he brought Izuku to sit down on the couch in the living room just inside the entrance of the apartment. "Akira!"

When the older man didn't immediately appear, the two-toned boy called again, all the hysteria that he had tried to hide filling his voice, " _Akira!_ "

The artist must have heard the tone, or perhaps finally had a chance to properly stop his work because he burst into the room with equal urgency.

"What's wrong Shouto? Did someone hurt y-" He was interrupted by the boy toppling into his arms and bursting into tears fed by his anxiety.

"I'm sorry, Akira. I know you're working, but Izuku got hurt, and I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to take him all the way back to his house, but I couldn't call for anyone, so I brought him here, and I'm sorry, but we've gotta-" Shouto's words poured with his tears, all gasping breaths, quivering lips, and shaking hands.

"Alright, alright, Shouto." Akira spoke in a slow, quiet, calming voice, hands moving to steady the boy's shoulders. "You need to take a deep breath and calm down. You did the right thing and brought him here, and we can fix him up and call his mom. Okay?"

Shouto nodded hesitantly, throat clenching around words and sobs he couldn't get out.

"Good." Akira spoke serenely. "So dry those tears, so we can help your friend. Sad people aren't supposed to be around injured people because then everyone's sad, and no one focuses on getting better."

Shouto took a deep breath and rubbed at his eye. He had to worry about Izuku now. His own feelings could wait until after his friend was better.

"Hey, bud." Akira was kneeling by Izuku. The green-haired boy had stretched himself down the length of the couch, head propped on the side pillows. His eyes were dangerously close to shutting before Akira began speaking to him. "I'm Akira; I'm dating Shouto's big brother. What's your name?"

He blinked lazily at the brown-haired man, eyes slow to focus. "'M Midoriya Izuku."

"Alright Midoriya, what all is hurting you right now?"

"Mm," Izuku moaned in pain as he adjusted his head to look at Akira better. "My head and chest really hurt, and my back kinda does too."

"Do you think we can take your shirt off so I can bandage your chest Midoriya?"

"Hmm," Izuku nodded sleepily.

"If your head is hurt then I need you to stay awake for me Midoriya. You might have a concussion which is when you brain bounces all around your head. It's not good to sleep if you have one, so you have to stay awake."

"But 'm sleepy…"

"I know, Midoriya, but let's get some bandages on then we can call your mother and go to the hospital and then a real doctor can help you, okay? But you have to stay awake until the doctor or your mom says you can sleep."

Izuku blinked his eyes slowly a few times, struggling to process the words. He seemed to gain a spark of energy again because he started to slowly sit up. Akira was quick to help him, telling Shouto to grab the bandages and a wet washcloth as well as both the antibacterial and the burn cream from the bathroom as he did so.

Akira helped Izuku pull the burnt remains of the shirt off before he took a closer look at the small burn on his chest.

"Well the burn doesn't look too bad, so that's good. Have you had burns like this before? You have some other scars that look like burn scars here." Akira tried to keep conversation.

"Yeah, they're from Kacchan."

Akira had no idea who this "Kacchan" was, but their cutesy nickname seemed terribly at odds with the assortment of old and new injuries Midoriya had supposedly received from them.

"And what kind of Quirk does this Kacchan have?" It seemed to be the only logical source of these injuries, and if he could figure that out then that might affect the treatment options and decisions.

"Kacchan's got like the coolest quirk. He makes e'splosions from his hands. 'S so cool, but I think I might like Shou's better now. His ice was pretty."

"Yeah, Shouto's got a pretty cool Quirk, doesn't he?"

"Mmm," Izuku was drifting again.

Luckily Shouto came back with the first aid supplies at that point, and they managed to keep Midoriya awake for awhile just because of the jostling and resulting twinges of pain from his injuries.

Akira cleaned the burn wound before coating it liberally with the complementary cream. He wrapped the chest as tight as he dared just in case there had been some sort of superficial damage to the ribs below the skin.

His attention then turned to the darkened spot on the back of Izuku's head where Shouto had indicated. The bleeding had stopped by the time the two boys had reached the apartment, and it didn't look very deep as Akira cleaned in the best he could, but they had no idea what was happening with his brain below the surface.

Izuku squirmed and squeaked in pain as Akira's fingers tenderly wiping at the wound with washcloth and antibacterial cream. They managed to bandage it as best they could before they situated Izuku into a more comfortable sitting position on the couch.

The green-haired boy sat in the middle with Shouto refusing to let got of his hand on one side and Akira keeping a steady stream of questions and conversation on the other.

Akira brought out his cellphone. "Is anyone at home right now, Midoriya?"

"Mom," the boy answered simply, drawing patterns on Shouto's hand in order to keep himself awake and distracted from the pain.

"Okay, do you know her number?"

"Yeah, she made me memorize it just in case," Izuku rattled off the numbers as he continued his quiet doodling.

"Alright, I'll see if she can come over. How far do you live from here?"

"Mm, just a couple blocks away," Izuku yawned again, tired tears filling his eyes. Shouto tugged at his hand again in order to ensure the green-haired boy's attention remained.

Neither Shouto nor Izuku paid much attention to Akira's conversation on the phone, choosing to whisper nothing of much interest to each other in order to keep themselves from drifting away. Shouto was trying nearly as hard to stay as far from his anxious thoughts as he was trying to keep Izuku from sleep.

Before too long had passed, Akira hung up and addressed them once more.

"Your mom's on her way over now. She said she'll be here soon, and then we can all go to the hospital together. I'm going to call Shouto's brother too, so he can bring the car, so we won't have to use public transportation, alright?"

"Thanks Akira. You're really nice," Izuku had a stupidly content smile on his face for someone who was injured.

"Thank you for looking after Shouto for me. If you're around to protect him all the time then it's one less thing for me and Junichi to worry about."

Shouto rolled his eyes at the artist.

"Don't sass me. You know we both worry about you. Junichi especially."

"Hmph," Shouto didn't like thinking about his brother having such earnest anxieties, especially over someone like him. He didn't like having people worry over him; he wasn't used to it; he didn't deserve it. Junichi wasn't supposed to worry over him like that; it wasn't part of his personality. Izuku… Izuku could worry about him. That was fine. Izuku worried about everything after all.

Akira talked on the phone for a minute or two again, this time with his boyfriend.

"Alright," he said once he was finished. "Junichi got permission to leave for a family emergency, so he'll be over in about ten minutes, so we can leave then. Is there anything else you need to be comfortable Mid-"

A knock on the door halted his words.

"That'll be your mother now Midoriya. That should help." Akira got up to open the door, a greeting on his lips

"Is Izuku here? Is he alright?"

Akira barely began a hello before Midoriya Inko burst out in frantic questioning.

Akira barely gave a nod before Midoriya Inko burst past him to reach her son.

Akira barely turned back to the living room before Midoriya Inko burst out in tears at the sight of her bandaged son.

At the sight of his mother's tears, Izuku's own eyes flooded and soon the two were collectively sobbing. Akira had to just assume it all ran in the family at that point.

Shouto meanwhile refused to release Izuku's hand even as he hugged his mother, and the green-haired boy happily allowed it in return. In that at least, Shouto could be content.

* * *

They let Shouto follow Izuku through the hospital. Since his injuries weren't mortally grievous nor did they involve invasive surgery, they allowed the poor boy with the eyepatch to clutch his friend's hand as he was rolled in a wheelchair through the halls.

Junichi and Akira stayed in the waiting room while Ms. Midoriya and the two boys disappeared into the labyrinth of disinfectant-scented white walls.

Izuku was officially diagnosed with a mild concussion and some second-degree burns on his chest, but luckily he escaped with no broken bones and minimal blood loss. The doctors decided to keep him in the hospital overnight anyway for additional observation.

"Koboyashi-san and Todoroki-san," Inko greeted the men by name when she met them back in the waiting room.

"Midoriya-san!" Junichi exclaimed. "How's Midoriya-kun? And Shouto? What about him? Will he be released tonight?"

Akira half-hugged his boyfriend, trying to calm and comfort the younger man. "Junichi," he scolded lightly. He smiled softly at Inko. "Sorry about him. But how is Midoriya-kun?"

Inko smiled back, tired but significantly less frazzled than the last time they had seen her. "He's doing perfectly fine. They want to keep him for the rest of the afternoon and overnight." Her smile turned a bit sly. "But that little brother of yours is very stubborn, and he refuses to leave Izuku for a single instant. If he could have, I'm sure he'd have volunteered to do the doctor's tests for Izuku!"

Junichi softened at that, body slumping a bit in relief. He perked up again at her assinuations and offered smugly in reply, "You should have seen Shouto this morning, trying to sneak out of the apartment before I saw him, so I couldn't ask any questions. His face got so red!"

Akira huffed and rolled his eyes as his boyfriend quickly descended into the position of gossipping teenager. Junichi and Inko continued like that for a while, sharing stories of their boys that either dealt with their reactions to meeting or from when they had been even younger. The man was going to get quite the talking-to from Shouto when the younger boy discovered his brother's treachery.

When the adults finally walked into Izuku's hospital room nearly two hours later after chatting and drinking too-bitter coffee it was to the sight of both boys snuggled on the single bed, soundly asleep.

They looked peaceful and content there together, and after taking a few pictures, they left them to their quiet slumber.

And if in his dream, Shouto imagined a time where he, as a pro-Hero of course, successfully rescued Izuku without injury and beat the dastardly villain that bore Bakugou's face well then at least those things existed only in his mind.

His brother couldn't make fun of him for stories that didn't yet exist.


End file.
